GLENNFebruary 24, 2017

Aaron Watson: One of the Greatest American Entrepreneurs Alive Today

Country music sensation Aaron Watson made it the old fashioned way: through hard work, grit and determination. The only recording artist to make it without a record label, Watson credits his parents for teaching him about hard work and never giving up. He treasures one story, in particular, about the heartbreaking day a record producer told him he didn't have the right stuff.

"After he said we didn't have what it takes, I went back home, and I was pretty heart broke," Watson said. "And I told my dad, 'They don't like my songs.' And he said, 'That's alright. They said the same thing to Willie.' And then dad said, 'When Willie turned 45 years old, he made it.'"

At the time, Watson was 21 years old.

"I'm thinking, 'Whoa, dad, so are you saying that it's going to take me 24 years to make it?' He said 'Yeah, if you want it bad enough.'" Watson recalled.

Eighteen years, 13 albums and 2,500 shows later, Watson is at the top of his game.

"I just applied all the principles that my mom and dad taught me growing up of being all heart, all hustle, giving God all the glory, and I used all of those things they taught me. My business model is very simple: Faith, Family and Fans," Watson said.

Enjoy the complimentary clip above or read the transcript below for details.

GLENN: Hello, America. It is Friday. And I know there's a ton going on today. And we're going to get to it but this hour, I want to introduce you to a guy that I believe is one of the greatest American entrepreneurs alive today. How you can apply what he has learned to your life and rock the world. Aaron Watson joins us right now.

Aaron Watson is here. Aaron, in case you don't know. In case you're not a country music fan, Aaron Watson put out an album called the under dog a couple of years ago and was a guy who walked in to -- can I say what company?

AARON: We walked into all the companies.

GLENN: All the companies. And he is a Texas-born guy, and he just knows who he is and walked into all of the record companies and all of them said "You ain't got it, kid."

He decided to go and do it on his own, and you are the very first artist of any format, if I'm not mistaken, that has been independent. No record label, nobody, and you've made it to number one.

AARON: It's incredible. I mean, such a blessing. I mean, it was two years ago pretty much this week, and it's still hard for me to believe. We have an exhibit at the country music Hall of Fame.

GLENN: That he was amazing.

AARON: It's exciting because I get this a lot. I'm up and coming. 18 years, 13 albums, and 2,500 shows later, I'm still up and coming. They introduced me as up and coming as this big radio get together in Nashville, and he said, yes, I'm up and coming 18 years, 13 albums, 2,500 shows later, and I'm flattered that you still find me young and fresh, you know?

So we have fun with it. But it's just -- we've been so blessed. It's incredible.

GLENN: I will tell you. I can't wait -- because Pat doesn't really know anything about you and I am so excited to have the audience get to know you because you're one of the most genuine people that I know.

AARON: Thank you.

GLENN: And one of the really truly good guys. You're -- the way you run your business alone speaks volumes. You have three principles.

AARON: Faith, family, and fans.

GLENN: Explain.

AARON: Well, that's my brand. I mean, that's my manifesto. And in everything I do, I ask myself am I staying truth to my faith, my family, and my fans?

I mean, just like you said, we've been turned down, rejected by every record label there is. And at some point, I just was, like, I'm going to do this. They can't tell me that I can't do this. Like, I believe in myself. I'm willing to put in the hard work and, you know, the greatest thing now is that now that we've divide the system, it gives me this wonderful platform to tell all these people, these other people that are shooting for their dreams, like, listen, I don't care what career path you want. If you want it, you go get it. Don't you dare let somebody discourage you from your dreams. No one has the right to discourage you from your dreams.

GLENN: Would you guys just play a little of -- is it outcast? No, underdog.

AARON: Underdog. Yeah, we can play. So much part are you talking about?

GLENN: Isn't that the one with the --

AARON: Oh, you're talking about my fence post. You're talking about my --

GLENN: You're not changing anything.

AARON: Oh, you're talking about this one. Oh, absolutely. So I was driving back from Austin.

LENN: Okay.

AARON: And I was just -- it's in the middle of us recording the underdog. And we were almost finished with it, and I got to thinking about my career path and how things were starting to take off, and I was, like, man, we've got -- I've got to share my story more on the underdog. So I went in, and I wrote this song. And my producer didn't even know I was putting it on the record. I mean, I'm paying him out of pocket, so it doesn't matter at the end of the day. We did two takes of it on a little SM58 mic just like this. And I told the kid that was engineering it just pick the best take of the two. I'm only going to sing it twice. I want this to feel like I'm singing this song on my back porch.

And we haven't sang this song in forever so, you know, nothing quite like not rehearsing a song in front of Mr. Glenn Beck.

STU: Now you know how our day is every day. Every day we deal with this.

AARON: And I wrote this song for that record executive that sent me back home. And what's interesting is that when I went -- after he said we didn't have what it takes, I went back home, and I was pretty heart broke. And I told my dad they don't like my songs. And he said that's all right. They said the same thing to Willie. And then dad said "When Willie turned 45 years old, he made it."

And at the time I was, like, 21. And I'm thinking whoa, dad. So are you saying that it's going to take me 24 years to make it?

He said "Yeah, if you want it bad enough."

And that changed the way I was thinking. I realized then I was going to have to be a go-getter. I was not going to be able to run that dream down sitting on my can. I was going to have to go after it, go get it. And really, I just applied all the principles that my mom and dad taught me growing up of being all heart, all hustle, giving God all the glory, and I used all of those things they taught me. My business model is very simple. People are, like, what's your musical background? And I'm, like, I grew up listening to Willie and Waley on my dad's vinyl records and my mom would thump me on the head not singing in church. Those are my musical influences, but that's everything I am today.

Everything my mom and dad surrounded me with are loving, supportive, it was all heart and all soul. And I have a story. Remind me to tell you this story about what changed me. It happened at 10 years old and what made me who I am today. But I'll sing this. I wrote this for that ol' boy at the record label.

He said some don't get offended by about what I'm about to say. I can see you have a passion for the songs you write and play. You like what we all call commercial milk. We just don't have what it takes to make it here in Nashville. Ouch.

Well, my heartfelt like a train wreck, but I wore a smile on my face. I said thank you for your time, sir, and I'll put this old guitar back in its case. Well, our little conversation was like a revelation redirecting my dreams because God knows I would never sell my soul to rock 'n' roll or rap or wear those tight fitting skinny genes.

Yeah, you know I pray the prayer of my own song up on a string. I wear what I want to wear. I'm going to sing what I want to sing. Heaven knows all I need is my faith, my fans, my friends, and my family. Besides, I rather be an old fence post in Texas than the king of Tennessee.

[Applause]

GLENN: And explains everything. And now what excites me about you so much is that you are progressive that the old model isn't even necessary.

AARON: Absolutely. I mean, absolutely. It's not necessary, and it's one of those things I'm honored to be, like, the poster boy for hard work. Persistence. The grind. I mean --

GLENN: Nobody's willing. It seems as though nobody's willing to do that anymore. They want the instant YouTube hit and just be a star tomorrow.

AARON: You know, so I was telling you about my dad. So a defining moment in my childhood, my dad's 100 percent disabled from serving the country in the Vietnam war. My dad's my hero. My dad has made so many sacrifices not just for this country but for my family. And I am who I am today because of my dad. And my dad was a custodian. And one summer, all of my friends were swimming at the swimming pool across the street from the church that dad was cleaning, and I wanted to go over there, and I wanted to be with my buddies, and I wanted to swim. I mean, I'm 10, 11 years old, I just want to be with my buddies naturally. And my dad was, like, well, I would really like you to help me out. And of course I'm 10, so I'm complaining about it. And we were cleaning the men's bathroom, and my dad was in one stall, and I'm in the next, and I can remember those big, yellow gloves, and we're cleaning away. And I'm just griping. I'm just complaining about having to clean toilets and not getting to swim with my buddies.

And my dad looks around the stall, and he's on his knees, and he's got on yellow gloves too. And he said "Hey, do you think that I like cleaning toilets?"

And I said "No, sir."

He said "But God's blessed me with a job. Because of this job, I'm able to take care of my family. So I show up here every day, and I make these the cleanest toilets in Amarillo, Texas."

And that hit me because my dad's my hero, and he's a custodian, and it kind of goes back to that Martin Luther King Jr. street sweeper comment where he says to the street sweeper "Clean those streets. Make them so clean that if Jesus walks down those streets, he says"Man, these are some clean straights.

And that instilled in me work ethical for me to be the best that I can be. And I'm not half the man my dad is. So, for me, I'm pushing myself to be the best that I can be because I just had that role model in my life. And my mom's amazing too. I'm a total mama's boy. If I don't bring up my mom in this, I can't go back home to Buffalo Gap, Texas.

But that instilled in me work ethic. If you want it, go get it. And I'm so proud not just of -- I'm not really -- well, really, I'm not really that proud of my accomplishments. I mean, I'm proud for my guys who work with me. I'm proud for my fans who have stuck with me. I mean, I got asked by rolling stone magazine how in the world does some west Texas boy with no record label outsell mainstream major label artists? And I said "It's simple. God has blessed me with the best fans in the whole wide world."

And I mean that. They take care of me.

GLENN: Between god and all the fans in this program, that's how everything that has been built has been built.

AARON: Absolutely.

GLENN: When you are loyal to your fans, and you're loyal to yourself, your fans see that. And then you're loyal to them, they're loyal to you, it is the greatest. I know people who despise their fans.

AARON: I'll never understand that.

GLENN: I don't understand that.

AARON: I'll never understand that. After every show -- you know, it's midnight. It's 1:00 a.m. I'm tired. I mean, I'm an old married man at this point with kids, you know? It's, like, I would like to go to bed. I would like to get in that bunk on the bus. But I have people lined up at my merchandise booth at every show. So I say, hey, after the show, I'll meet you at the merchandise booth. Hugs and selfies are free tonight.

And I spend time with the fans, and I let them know how much I love them. And when I'm too tired to get out there, I think about my daddy with those yellow gloves on cleaning toilets.

GLENN: His name is Aaron Watson. The name of the CD is Vaquero. He's going to play some stuff with us and talk about how to disrupt whatever industry you're in. He's proof positive, and I also want to tell you I have an ulterior motivate to have him on. And it's for his benefit. I really believe that this man and his group are a source of inspiration for anybody who is -- about to give up on their dream, about to give up and say, man, nobody's getting it. Don't. Look to Aaron Watson.

RADIO

A Complete Sellout?! Harley Davidson's Woke Agenda EXPOSED

Harley Davidson is seen as an all-American company. But recently, filmmaker Robby Starbuck exposed Harley Davidson's internal commitment to woke DEI initiatives. Starbuck reviews what he found: holding "explicitly racist" anti-white trainings, funding "all ages" Pride events with questionable activities, donating to extremely progressive groups ... "This is a complete sellout of common sense," Glenn says. So, why would Harley Davidson go woke? And will the company reverse course with enough customer backlash?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So I don't know if you know the name Robby Starbuck. He's a filmmaker. And I know Matt Walsh. Rightfully gets a lot of credit for, you know, exposing the pediatric transgender clinic in Nashville. But it was actually Robby and his wife, that actually exposed that. And Matt picked it up and ran with it, and changed a lot of things. He has been exposing those companies, that are all in on DEI and LGBTQ and everything else. He's exposed John Deere. Gosh, what are the other companies that he's done?

Big ones. I mean, Bud Light did one commercial with a transgender person. And they were almost destroyed.

He now has exposed Harley-Davidson. I just want to go over what Harley-Davidson is doing. Harley-Davidson is, as you know, one of the most beloved American brands out there.

Harley and Indian, to me, are more American than -- than Chevy and Ford. I mean, these are true American brands.

And what he found is a complete sellout of, I think, their customers. And a complete sellout to -- of common sense.

He just -- they just sold common sense out. It's gone at Harley-Davidson. Robby is with us now, to explain exactly what he found, and what we can do about it.

Robby, how are you?

ROBBY: I'm doing well, thanks for having me, Glenn.

GLENN: You bet. And thanks for all your hard work on this. You've done some amazing things. So expose Harley-Davidson.

What did you find at Harley-Davidson?

ROBBY: Well, you know, it's pretty incredible. When somebody came to me first with Harley being one of these little companies after we went through Tractor Supply and John Deere, I didn't believe it. I kind of had a hard time believing it. Because the Harley brand is like this macho brand, and, you know. Everybody knows somebody who has a Harley.

And it's so diametrically opposed to who they are. So we kind of pulled the thread. And as we looked into it, you know, lo and behold, in these stainability reports, which usually reveal a lot about the company.

We found that they had put 1800 employees through these woke trainings, including one group of employees, specifically white males.

They sent to a white male only diversity training. And if you look at the company that does this, it's not like, trust me. It's not a favorable training.

You get the worst training. You get the one that white people bad. You know, white men have a specific, you know, place to have to behave a certain way.

It's explicitly racist in my opinion. When you go further down the line, they have a plan to what they call diversify.

Their supply chain. Which is really just corporate speak for we want less white people. And you think about that -- just the idea is just so far and away from what the American dream is. It should be about merit. And who are the best suppliers. Who is providing the best stuff?

How do you do all this? So if you force diversity in your supply chain, what's going to happen to safety, what is going to happen to all these other things? Because you have this benchmark that you want to reach. And so all these arbitrary benchmarks pop up. But then there's also the pride stuff. They're funding events. They fund one pride event that was considered, quote, all ages. Where it was described as a rage room, in the marketing materials, for people who need to let off steam.

And that's right across the area where drag queens interact with kids, for story time.

And they play catch with Dad area for anybody who had daddy issues. And I'm not joking. That's actually, those were the three things that were next to each other.

Okay? That's a sponsorship for events like that. It is so diametrically opposed to the values of Harley riders. And they're also a founding member, a platinum founding member of the Wisconsin, LGBTQ plus Chamber of Commerce.

Which, I would question, why does there even need to be a Chamber of Commerce, for what type of -- you know, I think that's pretty weird.

GLENN: I know. It's very weird. It's very weird. They also make February, March -- they also made February, March, months of inclusion.

Because we need three months? Not just Pride Month?

I mean, the money they have donated now to the United Way, promoting, you know, Antiracist Baby. You know, the Ibrahim Kennedy thing. They have a Pride ride.

Let's see. They have events at their corporate offices. Their legal department has -- has -- is being celebrated for its racial equity and literacy challenges. I mean, it goes on and on and on.

ROBBY: That is insane, by the way. Yeah. That permeates the legal industry. Just so people know. That 21-day training is something that is happening, you know, pretty much throughout most of legal America, if we could call them that.

And it's one of the craziest trainings out of them. They're right up there with the United Way 21-day -- they have the 21-day equity challenge United for Equity, is what they call it.

It's some of the most explicit, Marxist training programs you could possibly have, pushing, you know, the landmarks to disorganization, to you know, reparations. And people like, you know, Ibrahim Kennedy and Robin DiAngelo.

You have the whole list of these left activists, for not just the Democratic Party. But kind of for modern day communism. That's what they're pushing through.

GLENN: So Harley-Davidson is -- and a macho guy's bike. Always been. An American bike.

And I don't see a lot of transgender business going Harley-Davidson's way. What -- I mean, I know one of my close friends, that I work with, owns a Harley.

And he said, everybody in my bike club, is just -- their eyes are bleeding. They're so crazy about this. Because they just feel Harley-Davidson has betrayed them.

What are -- what is Harley-Davidson's reply?

ROBBY: So there's no response yet. But, you know, I would caution that in the case of Tractor Supply, it took three weeks of us continuing with the story and not letting it go. Releasing little bits of information every day, for them to relent and turn back on everything. In the case of John Deere, it took a week for them to backtrack on a good portion of the stuff that we had -- in Harley's case, I don't know if they can wait a week. They have Sturgis Rally, which if people don't know, it's a big biker rally that happens August 2nd.

And Harley has a booth there. I don't think -- and they have an event there, actually, too. I don't think that they want to talk to all these bikers out there, about this program and all of these donations. And what they've allowed corporate offices and everything. I think they would probably like to clean this up before then.

That would be my guess. If they don't, they are dumber than I thought they were. I think they're doing this to please a certain element within the sort of financial world that's pushing these DEI scores and everything.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

ROBBY: And it's not just -- as much as I would like to say it's BlackRock pushing this stuff. Because I have my issues with BlackRock and with Vanguard and State Street. On more insidious things, the real poison is -- you know, the woke mind virus is a virus. It's carried by somebody.

And it's carried by the HR people who have come out of these colleges, totally indoctrinated into leftism. And so their job when they get inside there is, okay. Spread the virus through the whole network.

And so they'll use societal down points. Societal pressure points. Like what happened with George Floyd. As a way to put pressure on the higher ups to say, hey. We need to do this. To respond effectively. We need to show our employees that we care.

So the higher ups, in many cases, they just relent because they don't want to look racist. They don't want to look bigoted. At least that's how it used to be.

Now, a lot of those executives are looking for a way out. We have had executives reach out to us, and beg us to go after their companies in the future.

Because they want an excuse to get rid of DEI, which I think it's still cowardly.

Because it's still going backwards. We have companies we really need to go after.

We have now, at this point. Since we started this against Tractor Supply, over a thousand whistle-blowers.

So we are just trying to scale up the operation to work with all these people and go through all the documents and evidence that has been handed over to us, so that we can look at, you know, how have these great corporate American brands betrayed their customers and the values, especially the ones that depend on conservative America?

Because if we can't save them, then we can't save our country.

GLENN: So, Robby, I really believe all of this started, because of Occupy Wall Street.

You know, when you look at -- it was -- they were -- they were, you know, camping right in front of all of the big financial firms.

All of the banks. All of, you know, Wall Street. And corporate.

And then all of a sudden, it just kind of stopped and went away. And I -- I am absolutely convinced that a deal was struck at that point. Don't come after us. We'll help you.

And it was right around that time, that all of this money, from these financial firms, and from corporations, started to go these radicalized groups. For the first time.

And I think this was a deal cut, by the banks and by the giant corporations, just stick it on the American people. We'll be your ally.

We'll help pay for it. And now they're destroying their own businesses.

ROBBY: You know, Glenn, there could be an element of that. And I wouldn't doubt it in the slightest. I almost think it's even more insidious that be that. Because the long march to the institutions. Corporations are not exempt from that. And there's been an element of these -- you know, folks that I would say, are really, really, deeply committed to Marxism. Who they have embedded themselves in every segment of the American life.

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

ROBBY: And I think they've done a much better job at it, than we have as conservatives, protecting our country. And that's really on -- you know, we could go on and on about who is at fault for that. But honestly, it doesn't matter. The people who are here now, like you and me and others, we need to be -- we need to be the line. You know, we're the line that says, okay. We're pushing back.

We're not just defending. We're going on offense. And that's what we're doing here. It's like, we have to go on offense, and take back some of these institutions. And that will help through election. It will help through getting Trump into office. It will happen a lot of different ways.

But you have to go through each one of these institutions.

I'm more concerned about this people embedded inside. How do you get rid of those people? The people who -- even if you beat back DEI, if you don't get the whole department fired, are going to reinvent it in some other name. You know, that's the real virus at this point. It's like, how do you get that out of the company?

GLENN: Robby, I'm big fan of what you do and your wife. Make sure you say hi to her for us.

Please let us know. We'll continue to watch. But please let us know how you can help.
Thank you for exposing it.
ROBBY: Appreciate it.
GLENN: You bet. Buh-bye.

Robby Starbuck. You can follow him on Twitter, and follow the story.

It is -- this one was a big one.

John Deere was bad. Tractor supply was worse. This one is crazy bad.

RADIO

Tulsi Gabbard: Why "Anti-Democracy” Elites Are FORCING Kamala Harris on Voters

The Democrat Party claims to be the champion of "democracy." But Party elites seem to be practically coronating Vice President Kamala Harris to be their 2024 presidential nominee - WITHOUT consulting the voters. Former Democratic presidential candidate-turned-Independent Tulsi Gabbard joins Glenn to explain what's going on: "It is just a facade. [The nomination process has] already been wrapped up." Plus, Gabbard explains why Harris is NOT a moderate "unity" candidate. In fact, she may become the most progressive Democratic nominee ever. And Tulsi also discusses whether she would accept an offer to be Secretary of State or Defense in a second Trump administration.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Welcome to the program now, Tulsi Gabbard. How are you, Tulsi?

TULSI: Aloha, my friend. It's great to talk to you, always.

GLENN: By the way, I'm pushing for you to be the Secretary of Defense if Trump would win. I think you would make a great Secretary of Defense.

TULSI: I appreciate that. I think there will be opportunity, should Trump get elected, to serve as Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense. Be in a position to actually begin to reshape our country's foreign policy, to one that Trump has advocated for all along. One that puts the interests of the American people and our country first, and prevents from us getting into these unnecessary counterproductive regime change wars, and begins to enact those policies that allows our country to succeed.

GLENN: So I never thought of you as Secretary of State. That is an interesting idea. That might even be better than Secretary of Defense. But, anyway, let's talk about Tulsi Gabbard. I'm sorry. Kamala Harris.

Kamala is probably the most left candidate we've ever had. And she's being really installed by the Democratic Party.

I want to talk to you about the installation here in a second.

But first, what would we be getting from a cam Harris?

JIM: You know, the Democrats themselves tout President Biden as the most, quote, unquote, progressive president our country has ever seen. And this was supposed to the guy who was going to come in and be a moderating influence on the Democratic Party. The guy who said that he would unite all Americans and serve all Americans. And from day zero, he did exactly the opposite in dividing us by race. And enacting these radical, woke agendas, that are hurting our children, hurting our education system, hurting the safety of our communities. I could go on and on. You talk about these issues all the time.

We've talked about foreign policy. Really, when you look at Kamala Harris, you can expect more of the same. But worse. I think what it comes down to is just the need for us to make sure that we remind voters over and over, as we head into this election, even if a Democrat has changed their horse in this race, the substance, the policies, and, quite frankly, the real decision makers behind the scenes. Who have been pulling the strings.

Whether it's Robby Mook from Hillary Clinton's campaign. Or Tony Blinken Biden's.

You know, decades with President Biden. Or President Obama's lackeys in the White House.

These people were making decisions over the last three and a half years.

They're going to continue to call the shots. Which means we can expect the same disastrous policies that we have seen and worse.

GLENN: I really think that Biden was forced out.

I think they held something over his head, either the 25th Amendment or, you know, hey, look at your son. We may not be able to stop the impeachment proceedings because of the Hunter stuff. And they gave him a deadline of Sunday.

This is all my speculation, by the way. Gave him a deadline of Sunday, and he folded.

And I don't -- I mean, it's clear, that he's not running the country. He's not really running the presidency.

Because why -- why are you okay to be the president, but you're not there enough to run a campaign. That makes no sense.

But then they pick Tulsi Gabbard to replace her.

And it's surprising --

TULSI: Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris.

GLENN: Barack Obama is not for it.

What did you say?

PAT: Kamala. You said --

TULSI: You said they picked Tulsi Gabbard. They picked Kamala Harris.

GLENN: Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry.

TULSI: If it was me, I'm telling you, we would be having a very different conversation here.

GLENN: Yeah, I know we would. I knew we would. I know we would. I'm sorry. They picked Kamala Harris. And I don't think she's going to be running the -- the presidency either. I agree with you.

But who is actually -- who is this cabal?

Shouldn't we be asking that question and getting that answer?

TULSI: We absolutely should, Glenn.

You know, it's the people who are invested. Ultimately, it's those who -- whose power relies on having a figure head that they can role.

So, you know, you can look at some of the people that I have mentioned already. Who have been around Hillary Clinton. They are Hillary Clinton's lackeys. President Obama's lackeys.

People who have been with President Biden for a long time.

It's the military industrial complex that profit from our country being in a constant state of war.

It's those who are -- who are the unelected people in the national security state. Whose ability to -- to control and take more of our liberties. Again, relies on us being in a constant state of war. It's their friends in big tech and propaganda media.

Who benefit from them having access to that power, and that information.

And it's the big money billionaires. Yes. It's the George Soros source.

But others. Reid Hoffmann and others. Who are -- are being -- who are incredibly influential, beyond belief.

Because of their money and their ability to exert control. Fundamentally, what is at the heart of this?

All these different people who make up this cabal of woke warmongers.

Of course, Hillary Clinton is the lead of that.

They are people who don't care about our country.

And they don't believe in the Constitution.

And they're trying to remake this country into something that is their utopia of some sort. But that devise the very foundation of what our country was founded upon.

GLENN: So you were a Democrat. You still -- we still would disagree on many policies.

But I respect you. Because you're at least honest, and love the country.

And I truly believe, that there are millions of Democrats, that are all across the country that I may disagree with, but they love the country. And they don't want to see it fundamentally destroyed and transformed.

They don't agree with these policies. And they've been so brainwashed. That they don't stand up, against -- they believe that Donald Trump is the threat to democracy, and they don't see what their own party is doing.

How is it they can go out and vote, and then have these delegates, and these superdelegates, disregard that vote, entirely.

And say, no. This is who you get.

How are they not up in arms, Tulsi?

TULSI: Well, first of all, let's just go back, there were a number of states that did not even hold primaries. And so to -- and those that would not allow other Democratic candidates. Because, you know, obviously, Bobby Kennedy was running to be the Democratic nominee.

GLENN: Right.

TULSI: There was a member of Congress. I can't remember his name at the moment. Who was running. Obviously, Marianne Williamson, and may have been a few others who were running to be the Democratic nominee. Many other states would either not allow them on the ballot, or did not hold primaries at all.

So the Democratic party, led by President Biden, that claims to be the champions of democracy, would not even allow a democratic process within their own primary. So the anti-democracy initiative began there, and it continues through. So we shouldn't be surprised to see what they are doing today. You know, they are trying to pretend that this is not a coronation of Kamala Harris. President Obama saying, oh, you know. This will be brought to the convention, and delegates will have the opportunity to choose who the next Democratic nominee for president will be.

GLENN: Delegates.

TULSI: But we know that's just a facade. It is just a facade. It's already been wrapped up.

GLENN: Tulsi, thank you so much. Appreciate it. I know you've got to run. And you've just been overseas. And keep it up. Thank you so much.

TULSI: Thank you, Glenn. I appreciate you. Talk to you soon.

GLENN: You bet. You bet.

RADIO

"They Basically Let Him Get Shot”: Secret Service Vet Dan Bongino Demands Firings After Trump Attack

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino joins Glenn as a guest to review the latest insane revelations about the security failures at the July 13th Trump rally: “They just let the line of sight threat exist…they basically let him get shot.” Bongino and Glenn review some of the basic questions that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle failed to answer during her congressional hearing: Why didn’t she have a timeline of the day’s events? Why did the failed assassin have a drone, but the Secret Service allegedly didn’t have any aerial surveillance? Did Cheatle communicate with White House officials on messaging about the attack? Will she turn over her cell phones? Bongino also reacts live to the news that Cheatle has resigned.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Dan Bongino, good friend. Welcome to the program. How are you, sir?

DAN: Hey, good to talk to you, Glenn. Doing okay.

GLENN: Dan, I remember when we first met, you were still on presidential detail. And I said that you were standing in the room with these guys, while I was on the air. And they hated me.

And because of their reaction, you started really paying attention, to what was being said in those rooms. And I told you, I'm really concerned about the security, of the president.

Because I was on the outside looking at you, and people like you. And seeing the Secret Service being completely inept from the top. Not necessarily the agents.

It's gotten so bad now, Dan. And I'm not sure that it is -- they're being inept. I'm not sure what the hell is going on.

DAN: Yeah. These problems aren't new. And there's a lot of kind of -- Johnny-come-lately commentary on this, on the left-wing media good news.

But the reality is people like me, were calling attention to this problem over a decade ago.

And, you know, I have the receipts to back it up. You can go look at interviews I gave to the Washingtonian, a book I wrote, called Protecting the President.

All while diagnosing all the problems with the Secret Service. You will read the book. You're going to say, gosh, did he write this ten minutes ago? No, I wrote it ten years ago. And what wound up happening.

You know, a subject you're probably unfortunately familiar with is, the left-wing media, rather than analyzing Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Hannity, and Dan Bongino say, they go on attack mode right away. They just don't like us.

See, I don't feel the same about them. If I hear something from the left-wing media, I can independently vet.

It doesn't mean it's naturally false. Unfortunately, a lot of times, it is. But the irony is they claim to be journalists. They attack me as a conspiracy theorist for telling -- for telling folks on my show in August of 2023, it's Episode 2079, if anyone wants to listen from last year. Where I said that Donald Trump was likely going to be hurt or killed.

I was getting that information from high-ranking Secret Service sources. Who were very troubled by the minimal security posture applied to Donald Trump.

And the repeated requests for enhanced security, that was being rebuffed.

And Daniel Arkin, from NBC wrote a piece. You can still read, because it's embarrassingly still up. Calling me a conspiracy theorist, saying, I was stating this without evidence. Without ever having speaking to me, or asking me what my evidence was. So, you know, if you listen to shows like this and your program.

You know, you're six weeks, six months, six years ahead of the news cycle. You're listening to the liberal media, you're consistently stunned by attempts like this on Donald Trump's life, thinking, what happened?

GLENN: So tell me your gut at this point. And I know I'm asking you to go on limited facts, because they're not releasing everything.
But you have inside connections.

Is your gut -- does your gut tell you, this is just more of the same incompetence, times a thousand? Or is something nefarious going on?

DAN: Well, listen, the ladder, I can't answer. One thing I never do is I never go down road, where I don't know if it ends up off a cliff. Because then you wind up like the left-wing media. Oh, look, there's a pee-pee tape out there. Have you seen it? No. I don't know if it's nefarious.

I can tell you, the level of incompetence leads naturally to the second question: You're not crazy to ask it. But the level of incompetence here is stunning. Because people think in threes and nuggets and pieces of information.

I'm going to give you a couple of chunks of information here, from over ten years of experience. And having worked with three presidents. Two Democrats and a Republican.

Having done hundreds of advances and having actually done four foreign lead advances too. So, you, I know what I'm talking about.

To number one, why was President Trump on the X? We recall the X. Why was he out on the podium at all?

It's a question that nobody can answer. It's also the question in the hearing yesterday.

If you go back and listen to it, the director, Kim Cheatle, a failed human being, who disgracefully, still sitting in a job, putting a nation at risk from incompetence.

It's why she won't answer the time line question. Did you notice how cryptic she was?

She won't answer the time line question, because she gives you a time that is recognized. Then the obvious next question is, well, if you knew there was a threat, up to an hour out, potentially 18 minutes out, depending on who you believe.

Why was President Trump walking on the stage, in the middle of a -- getting scoped out, and range located by a sniper? And she can't answer it.

GLENN: So, Dan, so -- but her answer will seem to be in the coming days, that while yes, but we didn't have communications open with the people that were there.

Those were local.

Don't you have a command center, that --

DAN: Yes. Don't waste your time.

You just said it. Don't even -- I don't care what her answer is. It's called the command post. Glenn, you have zero experience as a Secret Service agent. You're a very talented radio guy.

Even you knew that. You never worked in the Secret Service. You're like, wait. Didn't they have a command center? Here's the answer.

Yes. It's called the CP, the Command Post.

Every single law enforcement entity working that operation had either a representative or a radio in there.

There is absolutely zero chance the Command Post did not get information that they were working to suspicious mail, surveilling the outside of the perimeter with a range finder. There's zero chance.

So when you ask questions like, well, how had he walked off stage? The answer is such incredible gross incompetence. I don't blame people for saying, there's got to be something more here.

I just don't know that. All I'm telling you is that the failure here is so apocalyptic, everyone there on that advanced team should have resigned the next day. The director, the deputy director, all of them.

How they still have jobs is incredible. Let me throw one more thing out at you.

Let's just say all of the director's stupid stories are accurate. They're not. Let's just say they are. The roof was sloped.

It was hot that day. Whatever ridiculous excuse you make.

I've read problems in the past, where we could not secure a line of site problem.

We didn't have enough bodies, whatever. I had a sight with Hillary Clinton. Just didn't have enough bodies to secure a dorm room, looking out at her speech sight at Hofstra University. You know what I did?

I have them go out, get a 5-dollar can of that snow spray, that fake snow.

Why would I do that? Because I sprayed the window. Because I figured, listen, if we can't mitigate this line of sight threat, and this potential sniper, at least we can block the line of sight so they can't see what they're shooting. Sometimes it's the best you can do.

They didn't even do that. They didn't even do that. They just let the line of site threat exist.

And the counter surveillance, which is a piece of paperwork, the countersurveillance team looks at, that will show that they knew that that was a vulnerability. And yet they did nothing about it. They basically let him get shot.

GLENN: They haven't released that, though, have they? That document?

DAN: No. They will claim it's classified. It's not. And here's another two pieces of paperwork. There's a survey, called the CS survey. The Countersniper Survey. That Countersniper Survey will point out every single elevated high point in the area.

That will be on there, and you will see something. I will break this later on my show. I'm not trying to be cryptic or funny about it on your show. I'm just working the angle right now, and I want to be sure I'm correct. But that specific high point, there's a major, major fiasco that happened there.

There was a communication lapse, that is totally unforgivable. But the countersurveillance and countersniper survey will show that that high point was a vulnerability. And then they will have to answer questions like, when that wasn't posted, when he was on stage.

And allowed that person to get up there. Because there was no post there or nothing. Why didn't you guys follow up?

The Secret Service is ultimately responsible. Why didn't the sight agents just notice that one of the posts they had wasn't there?

I mean, this is an unforgivable, unfortunate series of events, that basically caused this. There's no other explanation.

GLENN: So I had Eli Crane on. The Congressman from Arizona, that was up on the roof.
And posted a video, up at -- yesterday.

And he was standing in the barn, if you will. Right behind, where the shooter was.

And he's on the second floor.

Inside, air-conditioning. In an office.

And it has a window, that looks right out on that roof!

If it was too hot or dangerous, why were they on the first floor, and not on the second floor, looking at the roof!

DAN: Glenn, again, the incompetence here. These are hard interviews for me to give because of the questions you're asking. Again, as a guy with no Secret Service experience at all -- my wife asked me the same questions.

She's a database developer.

They're not explainable. Other than absolute, abject ignorance and stupidity. Whoever gave the advance that day. I don't know how they still have a job.

I really don't, and here's another thing: That -- here's the third question. I brought up the line of site. I brought up the paperwork.

There's another question that needs to be asked.

How did you not deploy -- we have an aerial surveillance branch in the Secret Service.

Why was the aerial surveillance, a drone, a helicopter, a -- an infrared -- a thermal. Why were these -- why were these simple tools we use over and over, not employed that day?

You would have seen the guy on the roof, the second he got up there.

You know, Kim Cheatle, the failed director, said yesterday at the beginning of the hearings, you go back and listen: We employ a 360-degree security coverage. Well, 360, is a three-dimensional sphere.
That means above and below. Well, where the hell was the above coverage?

There was nothing above. We didn't have a drone. Glenn, go to Amazon right now. Get a drone for 40 bucks. We couldn't send a drone up in the air?

You have a 6 trillion-dollar federal budget. What the hell is the federal government good for? Why was there no drones? The answer is, again, absolute stupidity.

And how these people have not been fired or resigned, is really deeply disturbing at this point.
The government has no accountability whatsoever.

GLENN: Dan, when I heard the congressman yesterday.

DAN: Wait. Glenn, hold on.

I'm hearing breaking news, that the director may be leaving very soon. So I'm just getting this now. So we may --

GLENN: Oh, good. Good.

DAN: I predicted this last night. We'll see what happens.

Yeah, she has no political support. But the Biden/Harris team doesn't want the headache. The Democrats have bailed on her. This woman needs to go. She's a disgrace. I'm getting this from a Secret Service friend now. Said, and she's out.

So whether he's got something we're breaking on your show or not, but this guy has been a reliable source for me.

GLENN: Tell me, when I heard the congressman yesterday say that, have you used any kind of encrypted apps to communicate with anyone.

I was shocked to hear her say yes.

But when -- when -- I don't know if congressman -- or, you know, are smart enough to think this way.

But I know I really try not to ask a question, especially, if I'm -- if I am in a situation, where I'm trying to prove somebody wrong.

I make sure I kind of know the answer to the question. Before I ask it.

That way, when we come back to it later. I've got her on the record.

What the hell is -- on her private phone. That's against the law.

DAN: Well, because we've been friends for a long time. I'm not going to spin your wheels.

There are two people on this phone call.

And one of them may have contributed to the asking of that question. So you could probably figure out by the fact that -- so, yeah.

They're -- Cheatle has no friends, anymore in the Secret Service.

They are horrified by her leadership. Let's just say a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, may have sent to a friend, exactly that question. Who passed to a friend of a friend of a friend of another friend. And it made it into the hearings. That's what --

GLENN: What was the friend of a friend of a friend saying that we should get that on the record for?

DAN: Because the communications may -- may have involved communications with significant White House officials on messaging. And it may have involved.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

DAN: Yes. So we'll -- we'll see what comes out in the wash. Now, keep in mind.

GLENN: Did it maybe involve this -- this event?

DAN: Oh. Oh, yeah. That's a distinct possibility.

I mean, we will have to find out. I don't know the exact content. Because I don't have her phone.

But her agreeing to turn over her personal phone for forensic analysis to Lauren Boulder, who asked all the right questions, by the way. They should take her up on that offer. I can almost guarantee her, she will bail and lawyer up, if she's asked to turn her personal phone over.

Or she's probably deleting messages right now.

GLENN: Unbelievable.

Dan, as always. Great to talk to you.

And I'm so happy for your success.

Nobody deserves it more than you, Dan.

DAN: You're a food friend and a mentor. So I love you too, brother. Thanks, man. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

RADIO

Glenn Beck Reacts: Secret Service Director RESIGNS After DISASTROUS Testimony

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has finally resigned 10 days after the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump. But Glenn says, "that should not close this case by any stretch of the imagination." Glenn and Pat discuss Cheatle's resignation and her disastrous testimony to the House Oversight Committee the day before.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: The head of the Secret Service is resigning. Or appears to be resigning. But that should not close this case by any stretch of the imagination.

Pat and I want to go over some of the audio from yesterday. Let's start with Comer, with Cheatle struggling to answer any of his questions. Cut 11.

VOICE: At any point Saturday did the Secret Service have an agent on top of that roof?

KIM: Sir, I'm sure as you can imagine, that we are just nine days out from this incident, and there's still an ongoing investigation. And so I want to make sure that any information that we are providing is factual.

VOICE: Okay. Why did the Secret Service not -- can you answer why the Secret Service didn't place a single agent on the roof?

KIM: We are still looking into the advance process and the decisions that were made.

VOICE: Okay. Okay.

Wasn't that building, within the perimeter that should be secured? Do we agree with that?

KIM: The building was outside of the perimeter on the day of the visit. But, again, that is one of the things that during the investigation, we want to take a look at and determine whether or not other decisions should have been made.

VOICE: One of the things that you said, I believe in an interview, that there wasn't an agent on the roof, because it was a sloped roof. Is that -- is that normal?

And to a fear that that immediately creates an opportunity for future would-be assassins to look for a slanted roof?

I mean, this is a huge question that every American has.

Why wasn't a Secret Service agent on the roof.

And there have been reports that agents were supposed to be on the roof. And it was hot that day. And they didn't want to be on the roof. Can you answer any of those questions, Director?

KIM: Sir, I appreciate you asking me that question, Chairman.

I should have been more clear in my answer, when I spoke about where we placed personnel in that interview.

What I can tell you, is that there was a plan in place to provide overwatch. And we are still looking into responsibilities, and who was going to provide overwatch.

But the Secret Service in general, not speaking specifically to this incident, when we are providing overwatch, whether that be through countersnipers or other technology, prefer to have sterile rooftops.

VOICE: Did the Secret Service use any drones for surveillance that day?

KIM: Sir, I will not get into specifics of that day --

GLENN: Stop. She couldn't answer anything yesterday. Not one thing.

PAT: No.

GLENN: If you were the head of the Secret Service. It's been over a week now, you're the head of the Secret Service, you walk into people's office, the minute that happens and say, I want answers right now.

PAT: Who was in charge of oversight? Right?

It takes two minutes to find that out. Come on. It doesn't take ten days to find that out.

GLENN: Right. We're still looking into that. Are we?

Now, she had a problem with Jim Jordan as well.

Here's cut 20.

VOICE: Take to the president and the First Lady?

KIM: No, I have not.
VOICE: Talk to the White House staff, anyone in White House communications?

KIM: No. I have not.

VOICE: Have you talked to the countersniper that took the shot that took out the bad guy?

KIM: Yes, I have.

VOICE: And can you tell us about that conversation?

KIM: I would not want to reveal conversations that I've had with my employees.

PAT: Oh, jeez.

VOICE: But that's exactly the kind of information the American people want to know. The American people who pay your salary.

KIM: I understand. This is an ongoing investigation --

VOICE: Who is all doing the investigating at the Secret Service?

I know the inspector general, but is there also an internal investigation in addition to the inspector general?

KIM: We are conducting a mission assurance investigation internally, yes.

VOICE: You know what it looks like, director? It looks like you won't answer some pretty basic questions. It looks like you got a 9 percent raise, and you cut corners when it came to protecting one of the most important individuals. The most well-known individuals on the planet.

A former president, likely the guy who is going to be the next president, looks like you guys were cutting corners. That's what it looks like to me.

PAT: Hmm.

GLENN: Let's go to Cut 27. Here's Andy Biggs.

VOICE: Your agency has a no-fail mission. And on Saturday, July 13th, your agency spectacularly failed.

The failure resulted in the death of Corey Comperatore, and serious injury to two other rally attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, besides the injuries to President Trump.

It's unfathomable, that a 20-year-old on the radar of Secret Service and local law enforcement before President Trump went on stage, was able to climb on to the roof of a building with a rifle.

And fire off multiple rounds before he was neutralized.

Was Mr. Crooks acting alone?

KIM: Again, I would have to refer to the FBI's investigation.

VOICE: Was he just a lone gunman?

KIM: I would have to refer you to the FBI's investigation for motive.

GLENN: That's not motive. That's asking, she revealed something there, on motive.

Don't you think?

Of us he acting alone? You'll have to talk to them about motive. Well, wait. No, that's a different answer.

PAT: That doesn't seem to go to motive. So that's interesting.

GLENN: No. Yeah. AOC.

I mean, the left was tearing her apart as well. Here is AOC cut seven.

VOICE: So the notion of a report coming out in 60 days, when the threat environment is so high in the United States, irrespective of party is not acceptable. And I think it's very important to understand that.

This is not theater. This is not about jockeying. This is about the safety of some of the most highly targeted and valued targets. Internationally and domestically.

In the United States of America.

So the idea that a report will be finalized in 60 days, let alone prior to any actionable decisions that would be made, is simply not acceptable.

It has been ten days since an assassination attempt on a former president of the United States.

Regardless of party. There needs to be answers.

PAT: Wow. Felt a little --

GLENN: That's the best thing I think I've ever heard her say.

PAT: Oh, by far. By far.

Felt a little bipartisan there, yesterday, a little bit. Didn't it.

GLENN: It did. Because as we've been saying on this show forever.

The president of the United States. The current one. If he's not dead already.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: You know, he's in danger.

Kamala Harris is in danger.

RFK is in danger.

We cannot have a -- a slew of assassination attempts.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Can't! God forbid one of them die, it will tear this country apart!

Here's another Democrat. This is Moskowitz from Florida. Democrat to Cheatle.

Cut ten.

VOICE: Director, I just want to give you an honest assessment of how this is going for you today. Did you happen to catch the hearing many months ago, in education, where there were a bunch of university professor, university presidents and Elise Stefanik asked a very easy question and couldn't get an answer?

Did you see that hearing?

KIM: No, I don't think I did.

VOICE: Okay. Well, let me tell you, it didn't go well.

And the short end of that story was, those university professors all resigned. They're gone. That's how this is going for you. This is where this is headed. Okay?

This is -- I don't know who prepared you for this. I don't know how many times you've testified in front of Congress, but a president was almost assassinated live on television, not just for Americans. But for the world, to see.

And this being your first opportunity. I understand there's an ongoing investigation.

I understand there are things that you can not talk about. But the -- the idea that we're getting less than you did, on television, is something that Democrats, independents, and Republicans are going to find unacceptable.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

Now, there was Nancy Mace, who was a little more plainspoken. Cut 12.

VOICE: Was this a colossal failure?

KIM: It was a failure.

VOICE: Yes or no? Was it a colossal failure is the question. Yes or no.

VOICE: I have admitted --

VOICE: This is a yes or no series of questions. Was this a colossal failure? Yes or no?

KIM: Yes.

VOICE: Have you provided a list to the oversight committee? Yes or no?

KIM: I will have to get back to you on that.

VOICE: That is a no. Have you provided all audio and video recordings in your possession to this committee, as we asked on July 15th? Yes or no?

KIM: I would have to get back to you.

VOICE: That is a no! You're full of (bleep) today. You're being completely dishonest.

GLENN: Love that.

And then we have Representative Fallon, who said this to Cheatle, cut 13.

VOICE: You know what else is dangerous? I believe your horrifying ineptitude, and your lack of skilled leadership is a disgrace. Your obfuscating today is shameful.

And you should be fired immediately. Go back to guarding Doritos.
(laughter)

PAT: She used to work security at Pepsi. That's why she was guarding Doritos. That's great.
(laughter)

GLENN: Yeah. I found that amazing. When the assassination first happened. I looked her up.

And I'm like, where did she come from?

And I saw she was head of security from Pepsi. And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me.

You're now the head of the Secret Service?

PAT: Well, how many Doritos, do you know were killed during her watch? None. None.

GLENN: None.

PAT: Not a single Doritos was murdered while she was there.

GLENN: And especially all those Coke lovers out there. That just want to knock off cans of Pepsi. She had her job cut out for her.

PAT: She did. She did.

GLENN: It was very difficult.

Oh, my gosh. Now, here's what I'm afraid of. That this is going to stop this investigation.

Because it can't. It cannot stop this investigation.

She has -- she -- we have to know what her device is. What's on her devices.

Why was she using signal when talking to the White House, from her own personal phone?

That's against the law. Did the White House know that that was happening? What were they talking about?

That's really important, to find out.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And I -- I think everybody on that Secret Service detail, should be brought in front of Congress, and have to answer themselves.

You know, it's one thing to be told, shut up. Sit down. Shut up. Don't say anything.

It's another, when you're going to be blamed for it. On national television.

So are you telling me, when you went and you surveyed the site, that didn't occur to you, that that was a big problem?

That you should have somebody secure of that. Is that what you wrote down in your report? Is that --

PAT: But --

GLENN: You should be fired right now.

PAT: They couldn't, Glenn. Because there was a slope. It was hot.

And we were -- this is just breaking. The sun was in their eyes.

GLENN: What kind of pussywillows do we have on the -- I mean, that's what we should call the Secret Service presidential detail, the Pussywillows. We're out here. It's hot. I don't know.

PAT: I don't want to get on a sloped roof. There's a 3 percent grade there. I'm not getting out there!
(laughter)
I mean, come on.

GLENN: It's unbelievable.

PAT: You didn't exactly have to be a mountain goat to navigate that roof. It's almost flat.

GLENN: Unbelievable. No. No. You really didn't. You really didn't.

PAT: Oh, man.

GLENN: I mean, it is -- it is their -- they're just -- I question the manhood of every single person, that was on the Secret Service detail. Or on the local detail, if they were like, it's hot!

It's very hot.

PAT: Right.

GLENN: Who do we have Dylan Mulvaney out?

Dylan, you watch the roof. Okay. But girl power.

I'm not going to walk on that roof. It's hot and sloped.

PAT: And I'm on my heels today. I'm in my heels. I'm not doing it. All right. Okay.

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"They Basically Let Him Get Shot”: Secret Service Vet Dan Bongino Demands Firings After Trump Attack

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